In a meeting with a client recently, she told us that she had been trying to get the help of a senior engineer on a critical new product. She found that if she timed her morning coffee break just right, she could get 5-10 minutes with the senior engineer every couple of weeks. This is exactly why innovative companies like Uber, SurveyMonkey, and airbnb have opened offices with the freedom to work where you want.

Are you or your team two-dimensional to each other? Do you know anything about each other? Are you familiar with who they really are or what they care about? Would you be surprised to know what their passion is or the challenges that they face personally and professionally? The challenge for many of us, whether we lead or work on a virtual team, is that we are faceless paper cutouts to each other. We are two-dimensional people in a three-dimensional world.

I don't think that this comes as a surprise that success on a virtual team is all about communication. We all know that good leaders need to be able to engage and motivate their teams to attain a shared corporate goal. A 2015 study found that one of the top three development priorities for leaders is the ability to connect and clearly provide direction during informal feedback and coaching sessions. The challenge is, according to research from Development Dimensions International (DDI), that leaders frequently do the opposite in their interactions with their teams. They often fail to provide clear direction or feedback and this results in lackluster productivity on a team. This inability to drive the vision through their organization reduces the leader’s influence in the broader organization and with their employees and peers.

Use the fresh start and the energy that the new year brings to your advantage for your virtual team. Relationships are the life blood of successful communication and collaboration. If successful salespeople perform annual relationship reviews with their clients, why can't you do the same with your virtual team?

Humans are ingenious when there is a problem that needs to be solved. Finite fossil fuels gave rise to hybrid and electronic vehicles. A cordless environment brought by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Less invasive outpatient surgeries via laser technology. Reduced training budgets and global workforces giving rise to more face-to-face training and travel. What? One of these examples is not like the other.